Jerry Sandusky case: Convicted sex offender could keep state pension

Even after being convicted of sexually abusing 10 boys and facing a life sentence in prison, Jerry Sandusky has a decent chance of retaining his $58,898 annual state pension.

This is because Pennsylvania’s pension-forfeiture laws are aimed more at the state’s long legacy of public corruption than crimes of violence.

Public employees and officials can lose a pension when committing one of 22 crimes in the course of their duties.

Several former lawmakers have forfeited their pensions in recent years after convictions related to using millions of taxpayer dollars for re-election campaigns, which is illegal.

But the crimes requiring a public official or retiree to give up a pension do not include any of the sex-related offenses that are now on Sandusky’s rap sheet, even though some crimes occurred while he was still defensive coordinator of Penn State’s football team.

Nicholas Maiale, chairman of the SERS board, said he plans to seek a legal review of the board’s options in paying Sandusky’s pension.

“I am a Penn Stater and I am a citizen of Pennsylvania, and we are all morally outraged about this case and what happened to those kids,” Maiale said.

But Maiale conceded he is not optimistic that anything can be done to prevent Sandusky from getting his pension.

“At this point, on the surface, it looks like a forfeiture won’t happen,” Maiale said.

Retired Penn State Vice President Gary Schultz might run a greater risk of losing his pension than Sandusky’s.

Schultz is accused of perjury, and pension attorneys have noted that perjury is on the list of crimes that could call for forfeiting pension benefits.

Prosecutors say Schultz and another administrator, Athletic Director Tim Curley, lied to the grand jury investigating the Sandusky case and failed to report allegations of abuse. Both have both denied any wrongdoing and are awaiting trial. (Curley is on leave, but he hasn’t retired, and he isn’t a member of the state pension system.)

The Sandusky situation represents a quandary for lawmakers and pension system officials.

When Sandusky retired as head coach Joe Paterno’s longtime defensive coordinator after the 1999 football season, he took a lump-sum pension payment of $148,271 from the State Employees’ Retirement System.

The rest of his pension is being paid out at $58,898 annually, or $4,908 per month. He accumulated the pension through payroll deductions and taxpayer-funded employer contributions during his 30-year tenure with Penn State.

Even upon Jerry Sandusky’s death, his wife, Dottie, would receive about half of his current payment, according to a State Employees Retirement System response to a Patriot-News Right to Know request.

The pension checks are not likely to be easy money for Sandusky’s family.

Jerry Sandusky could be ordered to pay hefty fines and court costs through his sentence on 45 counts of sex abuse crimes later this year. He will likely spend the rest of his life in prison.

He also faces the legal fees from his defense against the criminal case, the anticipated appeals and additional civil litigation. The victims might seek civil damages.

Nonetheless, several lawmakers think the prospect of a convicted pedophile taking any public benefit points to a need for changes to the system.

“The idea that Sandusky could be sitting behind bars for the rest of his life but still collect a taxpayer-funded pension is, to me, stomach-churning,” said Rep. Brendan Boyle, a Philadelphia Democrat.

Boyle would like to add any crime that requires “Megan’s Law” registration to the forfeiture list.

Boyle introduced his bill last year, before Sandusky was charged. It is now one of six bills introduced this session that would expand the current list of crimes that could cost public employees their pension.

Five of the proposals — included is a bill sponsored by Sen. Patricia Vance, R-Cumberland County — would appear to cover the types of crimes committed by Sandusky.

Vance’s bill would replace the current list of crimes with the more general “infamous crime” language used in the state constitution to govern a lawmaker’s removal from office, whether or not the crime relates to the person’s public employment.

She bemoaned the fact that legislators didn’t see this hole in the law sooner, but said it’s only appropriate they try to fix it now.

Speaking of Sandusky’s crimes, Vance said, “This has got to fit in” to the list of pension disqualifiers.

None of the bills is likely to reach Gov. Tom Corbett’s desk before the General Assembly recesses for the summer. But House State Government Committee Chairman Daryl Metcalfe, R-Butler County, said Wednesday he will hold hearings on the issue this summer.

As part of his review, Metcalfe said he will be asking his staff to explore whether any changes in the pension-forfeiture law could be set retroactively so as to apply to Sandusky.

“I think it’s a discussion we have to have, and research we have to do,” Metcalfe said.

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